Do you have a quick question that you wish you could ask other internal communications (IC) professionals for help with? Do you know who to talk to about certain aspects of Comms? Who is the best agency to help with your campaign? Who has good case studies to share on enterprise social networks or communicating with remote workers? Where can you find other internal comms pros?
Over a year ago I met up with my fellow Comms pros and friends, Jenni Wheller and Dana Leeson for one of our regular catch ups to discuss all things internal comms and much more. During dinner we shared ideas and thoughts on what’s happening within the world of comms, our networks and the future.
We discovered a common theme in the issue of sharing. Specifically, sharing knowledge amongst our network of internal comms professionals.
There are certainly lots of good groups on LinkedIn, which are worth joining (see my resources page for some ideas), and let’s not forget Quora, but we identified the need for a place to get short top-line answers to queries or to point you in the right direction. There are lots of brilliant people around, specialising in and with experience of a variety of areas including change, social media, intranets, stakeholder relationships, branding, events, employee engagement, strategy, union relations; the list truly is never-ending.
Introducing the IC Crowd…
Following that conversation last June, we decided to register www.theiccrowd.com, which has been pointing to my blog to date, and create the Twitter ID @theICcrowd. Until now, we have been unsure of how exactly to use it, but a recent conversation has inspired us and we’ve decided to try something new. You may have noticed the Twitter account spring into life this week…
So what is the IC Crowd?
Essentially it’s a community and a place for people to connect and communicate. It exists already, and alongside Jenni and Dana, I’d like to bring it together.
Our channel of choice is Twitter. The IC community is thriving there and with so many connected and inspiring comms pros around, it makes sense to be the vehicle to bring the crowd together. Twitter is already such an integral part of people’s lives and we wanted to make it so you can get the answers to your questions as quickly as possible. We may branch out to other ways in future, but for now, it’s Twitter.
How does it work?
If you have a query about anything related to corporate or internal communications, simply tweet @theICcrowd at the start of your message to ask a question.
For example you could write: @theICcrowd I’m looking for comms recruiters, who do you recommend?
Then @theICcrowd will retweet your message and if you have a suggestion to help the original person who asked the question, simply put @theICcrowd at the start of your tweet to share your knowledge.
This will then be shared, and by the nature of the network, we will be able to connect IC pros together and share their recommendations and thoughts.
So a conversation could be:
Mr IC pro tweets ‘@theICcrowd I’m looking for comms recruiters, who do you recommend?’
@theICcrowd retweets it
Miss IC pro responds ‘@theICcrowd I’d recommend @VMAGroup or @badenochclark’
@theICcrowd retweets it
What could I ask?
The IC Crowd is for you to use and make the most of. Take a look at the questions that are being asked and see if you’re able to answer them or offer advice. Feel free to ask your own – whether you’re stuck in a project you’re working on, need some inspiration for a comms plan, are wracking your brains for information or even to appeal to the comms community to see if an IC pro is near you and could meet for coffee to discuss your query in person.
This is by the comms community for the comms community. So why not give it a go – look up @theICcrowd and join in the conversation. You have a crucial role to play as your knowledge, contacts and insights are valuable and will help us as a profession to ensure we have the very latest information at our fingertips. This will be an evolving venture, so do comment via Twitter @theICcrowd, on our website www.theiccrowd.com or below if you have any suggestions or ideas. Welcome to the crowd! Rachel.
P.s We’ve discovered that recruiters VMA Group run a regular event called IC Crowd for comms pros looking for careers/professional development advice and networking opportunities. Just to clarify – this is not part of that, but it certainly looks like an interesting initiative.
